The Flood Controller's Wife

Chapter 30: Catching shadows

"Young master, its good to go. But we can't carry load on it yet."

Yubin said to Weiying after tempering with the broken cart.

Weiying nodded in tacid understanding.

"Lets get it back and fix it some more back at the workshop."

On the journey back, daybreak had come and Weiying faintly heard a high pitch whistle above. The sky was grey and the spring wind was chilly. Faint crimson was slowly creeping up through the cracks between the clouds.

Weiying had a habit of watching the clouds to judge the probability of rain so he often seem to stare dazed at the sky. This time, he saw for a split second a white shadow gliding overhead. He widened his eyes in surprise.

Hovering above him was a white eagle that looked very familiar. Yes. He had seen Lanzhan feeding a similar looking fowl long ago. When thoughts of him came to mind, Weiying was shocked that it felt so long ago since they last saw eachother. Weiying had been so busy with his new responsibilities that he had no time to grieve for their separation. He was not even allowed to find him. Suddenly, his heart twisted into a painful knot.

Yubin noticed something was wrong and turned to look at him.

"Whats wrong young master?"

"I... you guys go back to camp without me. I'll catch up with you later."

They have grown up together and knew eachother since childhood. How could Yubin not know what his young master was thinking. He looked up at the high pitch shriek by that white bird and he understood right away.

"But young master, if the prince finds out you went looking for Master Lan, he would not be pleased."

Weiying's face turned ashen, he was fighting back tears. All these bottled up emotions had haunted him for so long and the only thing that kept him going had been that sliver of hope that his other half might still be alive somewhere. If the prince was going to punish him for this then he was willing. He looked up once more. The white eagle was flying away.

Yubin saw that Weiying was about to cry. He had a weakness for his 'young mistress' he had cared for since they were little.

"Go, young master. I'll cover for you. But make sure you return by nightfall."

Weiying nodded "ka chaa." The horse reins were quickly pulled to face that other direction as his feet tapped lightly on the horse's belly signalling him to advance forward.

Yubin watched his retreating figure quickly disappearing into the woods.

The accompanying guards began to panic.

"This... this.. Admiral Yu, where is the minister going?" A soldier that had escorted them asked Yubin in bewilderment.

"He had to check something. He will go back by himself."

"Then shouldn't we escort him? Prince Chen had given his command that we must never leave his side."

"Don't worry, he can take care of himself and he also promised to return by nightfall. Its a matter of life and death. The minister is our superior. He must have his own judgement that we won't comprehend."

The soldier escort of about half a dozen man stared eat eachother with puzzled look on their faces. Admiral Yu was Weiying's second in command and also their superior. They had no choice but to obey him.

Weiying followed the bird and they reached a river. The bird flew across it. It was the Liao river. This river had flooded before and its flood was the cause of the flood where Lanzhan disappeared. The bird circled the river for a while before flying away to cross it. Weiying whistled for it to come back. But it never looked back. It was trained to hear and had accustomed itself to Lanzhan's whistles. Not Weiying's. Weiying furrowed his brows.